I don't inherently mind predictable books, but I do find that it gets a little boring to frequently see through the "twists." The twists here mostly revolve around the question of "will they, won't they" more than anything else. I think it's pretty obvious what information we'll learn about differing places (Barrayar and Beta Colony, especially).
Cordelia Naismith's science team is ambushed by a Barrayaran military unit while conducting a survey of what they thought was an unclaimed world. In a double-cross, some in the unit mutiny and strand their leader Aral Vorkosigan on the planet as well. Vorkosigan, known as the butcher of Komarr for slaughtering innocent people there, has claims to wanting a bloodless capture. In order to survive, both of them must trek tens of kilometers to a claimed supply cache and learn to trust each other.
Thus begins a number of encounters between Cordelia and Aral, interspersed with a few scenes of Cordelia on her own. Nobody believes her that she thinks Aral is different. And will Aral be forced by his war-like society to live up to the stereotypes with respect to Cordelia?
I'm not going to explicitly spoil this, but this follows romance rules in a very romance …
Cordelia Naismith's science team is ambushed by a Barrayaran military unit while conducting a survey of what they thought was an unclaimed world. In a double-cross, some in the unit mutiny and strand their leader Aral Vorkosigan on the planet as well. Vorkosigan, known as the butcher of Komarr for slaughtering innocent people there, has claims to wanting a bloodless capture. In order to survive, both of them must trek tens of kilometers to a claimed supply cache and learn to trust each other.
Thus begins a number of encounters between Cordelia and Aral, interspersed with a few scenes of Cordelia on her own. Nobody believes her that she thinks Aral is different. And will Aral be forced by his war-like society to live up to the stereotypes with respect to Cordelia?
I'm not going to explicitly spoil this, but this follows romance rules in a very romance inspired book. Don't read this for the unexpected plot twists. Read this for the solid characterization and some clever plotting for how Cordelia turns her relationship with Aral into an advantage for her world, the Beta Colony.
